Wrench



NOV. 28, 1 939. JOHNSQN 218L621 WRENCH Filed June 18, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTO R- AdamEJalmson.

ATTORN I Nov. 28,1939'. A E JQHNS N 2. 1s1,621

WRENCH Filed June 18, 1938 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Adamfllohnson.

W 9ATTORNEY2 Patented Nov. 28, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WRENCH Adam E. Johnson, Naugatuck, Conn.

Application June 18, 1938, Serial No. 214,481

particularly to a wrench having a pair of relatively slidable jaws and improved means for rapidly opening and closing said jaw, and for adjusting them to fit different sizes of nuts or other I articles to be gripped thereby.

One object of this invention is to provide a Wrench of the above type, in which one of said jaws is provided with a rack which meshes with a swingable gear segment on a jaw closing lever, and in which said lever is operated by a toggle action, whereby a relatively powerful grip will be obtained upon the article disposed between the jaws.

A still further object is to provide a wrench of the above type which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, readily manipulated, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very efiicient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in View there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawings a form in which the invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a wrench embodying the principles and features of this invention. a part of the operating lever being broken away to disclose the interior mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same, the gear segment being shown out of engagement with the rack to permit the rapid adjustment of the jaws to an article to be gripped thereby.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the jaws thereof in article gripping position.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, the numerals l and II indicate a pair of jaws between which an article, such as a nut l2, may be gripped. The jaw I0 is herein shown formed integral with a shank l3 which is substantially rectangular in cross-section, and the jaw II is herein shown formed integral with a sleeve l4 which is adapted to slide on said shank l3. The sleeve l4 has a longitudinally extending opening l fitted over the shank l3, the latter being of sufficient length to extend considerably beyond each end of the sleeve l4. The shank I3 is provided on its upper edge with a plurality of gear rack teeth I6,

which are disposed intermediate its ends. -A stop pin ll passes through the shank l3 and is engaged by the rear end of the sleeve l4 to limit the rearward movement of the latter on the shank l3. from the jaw l0 comprises a lever handle l8 for the wrench and has a plurality of finger grooves I9 extending across the under surface thereof to facilitate manually gripping the same.

The sleeve I4 is provided with a pair of spaced apart ears 2!! and 2| which are straddled by wings 22 and 23 formed on the lower end of a sheet metal handle 24 which is generally U-shaped in cross-section. A pin 25 passes through the ears 2!], 2| and the wings 22, 23 to pivotally connect the handle 24 to the sleeve I4. A wire cutting notch 26 is provided in the arm 23 of the handle 24 to cooperate with a similar notch 21 formed in the ear 2| of the sleeve I4, whereby wire or the like may be out when the handle is rotated upon the pivot pin 25.

A gear-toothed segment 28 is pivotally connected to the handle 24 by a pin 29. The axis of the pin 29 is disposed eccentric with respect to the center of the arc of the gear segment 28, whereby the teeth 30 will lie substantially tangent with the rack teeth It when the handles l8 and 24 are pressed together, as shown in Fig. 1.

The front edge 3| of the segment 28 is adapted to engage the rear edges 32 and 33 of the ears 20 and 2|, respectively, to limit the forward swinging of the gear segment 28 upon the pin 29, when the handles l8 and 24 are separated and to thus insure the unmeshing of the segment teeth 30 from the rack teeth I6, as shown in Fig. 2.

A wire spring 34, coiled about the pin 29 in a U-shaped recess 35 formed in the gear segment 28, has one of its ends 36 in engagement with said gear segment 28, and its other end 3! in engagement with the underside of the handle 24. The spring 34 is tensioned to constantly urge the gear segment clockwise, so as to cause the edge 3| to engage the rear edges 32 and 33 of the ears 20 and 2|.

Operation When it is desired to employ the wrench to grip an article, such as the nut 2, the user will raise the handle 24 away from the handle l8 into the position shown in Fig. 2, the spring 34 holding the front edge 3| of said segment against the edges 32 and 33 of the ears 20 and 2|. The teeth 30 of the segment. 28 are thereby unmeshed from the teeth 5 on the handle I8, and the The end of the shank l3 opposite sleeve I4 with its jaw II may be then manually slid forwardly along the shank I3 to move the jaw II into engagement with an arcle, such as the nut I2, which is seated on the jaw Ill.

The handles I8 and 24 will then be pressed together, and the segment 28 will be caused to move about the pin 25, due to it being carried by the handle 24 until the teeth 30 of said segment 28 come into mesh with the teeth I6 on the shank I3. Continued pressure upon the handles I8 and 24 will force the pin 29 downwardly, and by means of the toggle action, will exert a powerful force upon the meshed teeth l6 and 30 and the pivot pin 25. This force will then act through the sleeve I4 and the shank I3 to cause the jaws I0 and. I I to powerfully grip the nut I2, as indicated in Fig. 3.

When the handles I3 and 24 are released, they will separate slightly, as shown in Fig, 2, permitting the wrench to be manually rotated rear- Wardly about the nut I2, or other article being acted upon, by a sort of ratchet action and to dispose the jaws I0 and I I on the next succeeding opposite pair of faces of the nut. During this action, the sleeve I4 will automatically retract sufficiently to permit the jaws ID and II to ride over the corners of the nut I2, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Moreover, the teeth I5 and 30 will not become unmeshed, but will be held in mesh by the pressure of the spring 34 upon the segment 28.

It will be understood that the portion of the handle 24 between the pins 25 and 29 constitutes one link of the toggle, and that the segment 28 constitutes the other link of the toggle, said links being acted upon at their common pivot pin 29 by pressure imposed by the handle 24 to spread their respective remote ends.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be embodied in practice, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

In a wrench, a first jaw having a shank forming a front handle, a sleeve having a jaw opposing said first jaw and being slidably mounted on said shank, said shank having a plurality of rack teeth formed thereon, a second handle pivoted to said sleeve above the upper surface of said shank, a curved gear toothed segment adapted to mesh with said rack teeth and pivoted to said second handle at a point distant from the handle-sleeve pivot, and spring means reacting between said second handle and said segment to urge said segment teeth into mesh with the teeth on said shank, said gear segment being caused to rotate about its pivot and roll along said rack teeth when said handles are pressed toward each other.

ADAM E. JOHNSON. 

